AvtoVAZ returned the former Nissan plant in St. Petersburg to state control
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AvtoVAZ transferred the former Nissan plant in St. Petersburg – Avtozavod St. Petersburg – back to state ownership. This was announced by Dmitry Kostromin, vice president for sales and marketing of the automaker.
After the departure of the Japanese automaker Nissan from Russia in the fall of 2022, its plant in St. Petersburg, as well as the sales and marketing center in Moscow, were purchased by the state-owned Federal State Unitary Enterprise NAMI for €1. The deal included a repurchase option for six years. In February 2023, 99% of the shares of Avtozavod St. Petersburg were transferred to AvtoVAZ.
“St. Petersburg, which came to us at the end of 2022, in 2023, now, as far as you know, we have given it back to the state. Now this is an independent factory unit,” Mr. Kostromin said at a conference of the analytical agency “Autostat” (quoted from RBC). According to an RBC source, the plant returned to the ownership of FSUE NAMI, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
According to three interlocutors of RBC in the car market, a change in the owner of Avtozavod St. Petersburg is necessary to avoid sanctions risks. One of the publication’s interlocutors claims that AvtoVAZ, together with the Chinese manufacturer Chery, is preparing the plant for restart. According to him, in the future the plant may remain in state ownership and contract assembly for Chery will be organized at its site, or FSUE NAMI will transfer the plant to the Chinese side for operational management.
At Avtozavod St. Petersburg, AvtoVAZ produces the Lada X-cross 5 model. Since the end of January 2024, the company began producing cars under its own Xcite brand. The start of retail sales of cars is scheduled for spring 2024.
Read more in the article “Kommersant-SPb” “Nissan is being given up”.
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